Picking up the Pieces
by Tealheartleopard
Summary: "Never disagree with me Hooper, or next time if I have to, I will burn you" Molly Hooper has been broken, her mind is deteriorating and the one person that has the potential to save her is the person she fears the most. The puzzle pieces that are her mind have been scattered, but could they be scattered too far? Warnings-Torture. Whump.


He entered the room with his hands buried deep inside the pockets of his trademark suit, an air of confidence and mischief surrounding him. He approached her slowly, letting his footfalls increase in volume the closer he got, just to watch her squirm, and she had to fight the compulsion to back away, to retreat. For she knew that if she backed away from him, she would be punished.

Molly Hooper remained perfectly still, looking at the floor with her shoulders hunched. It took her awhile to realise that he had stopped his advance a couple of feet away from her. When she realised, Molly closed her eyes in pure fear. She was always frightened. Frightened for her life, frightened for those she knew... what were her friends called again? She couldn't recall. Maybe she never had friends, what he had said must have been true.

She had been a loner.

"Molly, darling", he said in a voice of mock concern,"I do hope you're not planning on sleeping. Your next sleep time isn't until tomorrow".

Molly's eyes flew open as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and she shook her head frantically. "N-no! I p-p-promise I wasn't g-going to s-sleep!", she blurted out, fear lacing her voice.

He took a step closer to her shivering form.

"Well that's a relief Mollykins, I didn't want to have to go through what we had to before", Molly saw the glint in his eye when he spoke about it.

She managed to block the images out, only because of new images that were invading her brain. Then again, they weren't new. They had all been images of torture, all the different types that he had punished her with. She was almost sure that he had tried every form of punishment, and she couldn't remember why she was being punished. She knew there was a reason, but she didn't know what. He cocked his head to the side and watched her, as she shivered violently, the convulsions now out of her own control.

"My dear, are you cold?" Molly couldn't do anything except shake her head, fresh tears beginning to spill from her glassy eyes. "I think you are. It would be best if we warmed you up",he whispered, his voice clearly heard in the small room.

Still shaking her head, Molly managed to brush away the tears that coated her skin. He looked down at her in mock pity, before stepping forwards so that he was directly in front of her. He towered above her, and she started to sob, feeling even more vulnerable, even more exposed now that she was being overlooked. He clicked his fingers once, and the heavy metal door slid open, to reveal a man wearing a suit not dissimilar to his own. Molly fought against her mind, as it commanded her to get away from the mad man, and this other man that she was vaguely aware she had seen before, that also bore the same manic grin as his boss and-Molly noted- was taller than him. She willed herself to stay still and she looked up at the two men, and sat up, in an attempt to regain some dignity.

But Molly slouched immediately when she realised what she was doing.

Her dignity had been stolen a long time ago. Molly Hooper was broken. There wasn't an ounce of her that had been able to survive this...isolation, this torture... this insanity. She had always been a fragile person, and therefore easy to break, but he had never thought that her sanity would last for as long as it had. Her mind was strong, but also incredibly easy to influence. Some days, Molly would seem completely sane, aware of her surroundings and the imminent threat that he portrayed. However that was mostly due to the experiments he liked to conduct. He had found the right mixture of chemicals that when injected into the bloodstream makes the human mind sharper and the pain more intense without the euphoria that was normally the result of stimulants like these, which ensured that Molly would be sane for a while before the drug wore off and she was left in a pool of pain and depression. But he didn't want to continue with hours in a dull lab trying to create a new and improved version, there was still many of his experiments that Molly had yet to try. However, he wanted a change in routine.

He smirked at her and watched her eyes dilate when he reached forwards to stroke her cheek in an almost loving manner. She remained still but the twitch in her leg didn't go unnoticed. He looked behind him and grinned at his lackey, and he grinned back, understanding what his boss had seen.

Molly was so, so frightened. All she wanted was to get out of this place. It had been roughly 1578 seconds since he had last entered the room and given her the last dose of his experiment, and in her alert state she could think up many ways to escape, but none of which she would succeed in. She was too weak.

The warning she received came in the form of a twitch in her leg before she was standing up blindingly quick and stumbling backwards, so that she had the wall for support. The room was spinning from the fast movement and Molly felt slightly nauseated. She hadn't meant to retreat, but it was instinct, it was completely out of her power. He looked down at the floor and smiled sickly as the taller man advanced towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders only to push her back down onto the floor and onto her stomach after she went to the trouble of standing up and retreating. The taller man held her down even though it was useless, she wouldn't dare to move after everything she had been through.

"Molly dear, you're cold. Can't you understand that?",he emphasised each word, dragging them out as though he was talking to a young child.

"I'm c-cold", Molly whispered, she had to agree with him, she had to. Otherwise she would be in trouble with him, and the last time she had been in trouble-well...she didn't like to think of it, but he reminded her at every given opportunity.

**flashback**

She was forced onto chair and bound to it with heavy leather restraints that secured her wrists, ankles and chest to the wood backing of the chair. He sat in the corner closest to her, watching as she swallowed back the tears that were already leaking from her eyes when she saw the cloth. There was one word that was filling her head, repeating itself until it no longer had a meaning, but she still feared it. Chloroform. She hadn't had any chloroform since the time that she was abducted-that was the only memory that was particularly strong from before this- and now that his 'friend' was placing the cloth over her nose and mouth she was certain it had to be chloroform. As Molly held her breath, bracing for the bitter nausea, she heard his shrill laughter from the corner.

"Molly darling! It's not chloroform, why would I want to take you to somewhere else when I have all the resources I need to...keep you in check right here?",he stated clearly, and Molly held her breath for a while longer before she allowed herself to breath. Surely enough she couldn't smell anything sweet. It wasn't chloroform. What was it then? She was trying to think of all the chemicals that he had given to her in the past, but her mind was clouded with fear and she couldn't think and-

And then the chair was being tipped backwards. It locked into place so that her feet were higher than her face, and Molly couldn't see what the taller man was doing anymore. Not that she particularly wanted to, but it was better than not knowing what was going to happen. That fear, the fear of the unknown was always there. Molly began to panic when the sound of sloshing filled her ears, but she remained silent all the same. There was a clang, as metal hit concrete and she realised that there was a bucket of water next to the chair. The taller man removed the cloth from her face and instantly Molly attempted to look into the bucket, and see what was inside it.

Steam fogged up her vision as it rose up, out of the bucket. Molly's chest rose and sank laboriously when the cloth was placed back over her mouth and nose and was held tightly onto her skin, for his lackey was holding onto the edges securely. The sloshing sound began again only to stop a matter of seconds later. There was a rustling noise and then fabric was placed over Molly's eyes preventing her from seeing, the only things in sight were the swirly patterns that were barely visible on the dark fabric. The wait was horrendous.

But she didn't have to wait for long.

Molly gave a start and began thrashing around in her restraints as a slow, steady stream of steaming water was poured onto the cloth. She held her breath for as long as she could, but when more of the boiling liquid was drizzled onto the material she jumped and breathed in deeply, the water entering her nasal passages. Molly screamed and spluttered as the water burned her skin and choked her, seeing this as an opportunity, a large current of boiling water was poured on the cloth, this time entering both her mouth and nose. Blisters were beginning to form in Molly's mouth, but she clenched her teeth and squeezed her lips shut so that she wouldn't scream again.

Another stream of steaming water.

Molly felt nauseated, her lungs felt like they were going to burst from the abuse. She was drowning and she couldn't stop it, even as she writhed in excruciating pain she was shown no mercy. In fact, it seemed to encourage them to carry on without stopping. The cloth was raised once every thirty seconds, Molly took this chance to take two deep gulps of air and then the cloth was back on her face, smothering her. Tears were running freely from her eyes, and they seeped out from under her blindfold. The water stopped and the cloth was raised, Molly took in as much air as she could in two seconds and prepared herself for the cloth to cover her lower face again. It didn't happen. Molly heard footsteps echoing on the cement floor and she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists as someone wiped away the visible tears. The touch was so soft and tender that Molly wanted to scream when he spoke.

"Never disagree with me Hooper. Or next time, I won't let you off so lightly. Think yourself as lucky, you're getting out of this with a few blisters, probably some chest pain and headaches later but that's all. You should be honoured that I've kept you alive all the time that you've been here. Next time, if I have to, I will burn you", he whispered in her ear. Molly began to sob, which earned her a slap to the face. The blindfold made it worse, the not knowing stung more than the slap itself.

"Stop crying Molls!", his voice was like a broken record, jumping higher in tone with each word. Molly sniffled and forced her self to stop. Two hands patted her cheeks like someone would with a dog.

"Good girl".

Molly thought that it was over, that it was going to stop, but nothing was that simple. The cloth was placed lovingly onto her face and the rest of the water was poured onto it, she sucked more and more water into her lungs with each breath she took. White spots danced in front of her eyes and her lungs were squeezing tighter and tighter. Just when she thought she was about to explode, she passed out.

**flashback end**

She had learned from that time not to disagree with him. That was six months ago. Molly knew that if she disagreed with him, and the denial was a light one, like shaking her head, then he'd let her off. However, if the words came out of her mouth, then she had to be punished.

"Mollykins, I have enjoyed our time together, really I have! But I think that it's time you and I moved on...", he watched as the words processed slowly in her deteriorating mind. She knew what he was going to say next. "I will probably choose someone else to play games with...although they won't be as extravagant as our games darling! But you...you Molly, what do you have to go back to?"

Molly thought for a second before answering with,"My f-friends...I've got a h-house..."

"No Molly, you don't have a house, nor do you have any friends...I...saved you from the streets. Don't you remember?"

The truth was, Molly didn't remember. But she had been adamant that it was the fault of the drugs that clouded up her mind, or that her past seemed to crumble every minute she was with him. It was as though there hadn't been life before the time she was captured. Or if there was, it had been destroyed. Molly had to agree, so she nodded and whispered,"I remember", whilst looking at the floor in a half dream-like state.

"Good. That is good isn't it. So Molls, as I was saying...you have nowhere left to go. What I'm going to do is in fact a kindness. It'll save you from being on the streets anyhow",he smiled sweetly at her, but the menace, the meaning behind his words and expression were prominent, even though they were hidden.

Molly was silent. The room was silent. There was no movement, no noise. No anything.

The world started turning again. Only for the soft tones of his voice, the gentle, soothing voice that was saying these wicked things.

"I'm going to give you an option. It's a life or death sort of option...death, I'll give you an extremely powerful sedative that will put you to sleep. Or life,well I want the chance to burn you as I had intended",he waited patiently for an answer, but he already knew what her answer would be. Nothing. The silence he was greeted with proved that. "Although there is a large chance that the burning could kill you too! So, think of it as a death or death choice. You get to choose how you die! Isn't that wonderful Molls?!",the seriousness that was in his voice previously seemed to have fled, and now he was the perfect picture of a crazed man.

Once again, Molly didn't say anything-or do anything-except for weep.

"Molly, I could of killed you long before now...but we've had fun together haven't we? Yes...if you're not going to choose then maybe I will..."

Molly managed to choke out,"The s-s-sedative"

"The s-s-sedative?!",he imitated her and then added,"very well."

Molly lifted her head up in an attempt to watch as he neared her. She saw him nod once at his taller self and a hand roughly grabbed her loose hair and pulled her head back as far as it would go, and then slammed her face onto the concrete floor. Her forehead was ringing and throbbing. Spots danced in front of her eyes and it was all she could do not to pass out. "Sebbie, I'm doing the honours",he said, and taller tried to keep a poker face despite the fact that he was disappointed.

Molly was free, as he had released her. But he pushed her onto her back and sat down next to her.

"So, this is the end of the line Hooper. I have enjoyed our time immensely, I just hope that you enjoyed it too. Did you?", he cocked his head to one side like a puppy that didn't understand a new command and waited for the reply.

"Y-yes...",Molly wanted to add a 'but' onto it, however she knew she couldn't.

"Good Molls".He stroked the skin of her neck repeatedly with his left hand, and Molly saw his other hand reach into his suit pocket. His hand hovered over her neck as he withdrew his other hand from his pocket. Molly squeezed her eyes closed tightly, she didn't want to have to look. But he had other ideas. "Open your eyes! Otherwise I'll have to force them open Mollykins, and I'm sure you wouldn't want that",he grinned when she opened her eyes, only to immediately flinch away from the syringe in his hands. He flicked the glass cylinder to get rid of the bubbles in the liquid and examined the clear contents, before squirting some of it onto the floor to adjust the dosage.

"Sleep well Molly!",He sang cheerfully as he tilted her head back to get better access to her neck. The needle pierced her flesh and Molly ground her teeth together.

He pushed down the plunger, emptying the thick liquid contents into her blood which pulled an agonised scream from her lips. He withdrew the needle from her skin and watched, as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Don't fight it Molls, let it happen", he pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text, it read-I've got you a present. Come and collect. X

He pressed send and then sent another message to another person containing the address. He placed his phone back in his pocket and began softly caressing Molly's hair.

"Molly, I'd say that you have about an hour left to live...even though you feel extremely tired right now you still have that much time. And if I've got everything correct, which I assume I have, then you could be saved. Could. It depends", he stared into space as he said this, not taking any notice of Sebbie-or Sebastian-who had left the room in a rush, muttering a quick goodbye to his boss before he went. A weak whimpering noise brought him back to his senses. He glanced down at Molly who was shivering violently and trying to talk.

"H-h-h-" He cut across her,"Don't try and talk, you'll waste the little energy that you have. How? You'll see. There's no point spoiling something that could be a brilliant surprise! If you don't die that is..." Molly fought against the strong grip the drug had on her, and tried to keep above the surface of consciousness. He shifted himself ever so slightly when he heard footsteps that didn't belong to any of his employees, so that Molly couldn't see what was happening. A bolt was being drawn across the door at a snails pace, and he lent down by Molly, with his mouth level with her ear. As the door was being pushed open he said in her ear, loud enough for her to hear but too quiet for anyone else in the room to hear,"Molly, there's one last thing I want you to do. But first do you remember my name?" Molly nodded numbly in response.

"Excellent. Well, how about you say it? Out loud. Just this once. Please? For me.",he waited and his ears perked as footsteps advance behind him. Molly struggled, her throat dry and scratchy.

But she managed.

"S-S-Sher...l-lock".

Smiling smugly with the satisfaction of knowing that his main plan had worked, Moriarty allowed himself to be dragged away from Molly and restrained with hand cuffs. Giving Molly one final glance, he saw that her eyes were closed, and her breathing was shallow. They were too late.


End file.
